Church attendance

     As a pastor I am always concerned about church attendance.  It worries me when attendance is low or sporadic.  You  know what I mean, one Sunday you will have a 100 and the next Sunday you will have 70 and it keeps bouncing back and forth.  In a smaller church it is much more prevalent, because if two or three families are out, you know who they are.  In a larger church, especially a mega church, you never miss several hundred because they alternate every Sunday as to who is out and who is in. 

     I admit that I want to see the church packed every Sunday morning and even Sunday evening.  I want to see people praising God and excited about their relationship with Him.  Yet it is not for the sake of numbers, but because you never know what you might miss if you don't show up.  Let me give you an example.

     Several years ago my family and I were serving as missionaries in Guatemala.  We worked with the inner city poor and we did our worship services in the afternoons at 4:00.  This time was the best time to reach the people in the places where we served.  One particular Sunday, we were tired and did not want to go to the service.  The people never showed up on time.  In Latin America, if you start something at 4:00 they do not show up until 4:30.  It was rainy season.  We knew they would be late.  We were tired and we said to ourselves "no one will mind if we don't show up today.  After all we might not even be able to get down the mountain."  Yet we knew that we did not have the proper attitude.  So we loaded up all our equipment, put the kids in our four wheel drive and went to the village.  As predicted, no one was there at 4:00.  In fact by 4:30 very few had arrived.  Finally, when we started at about 4:45 we had about 20 people there to worship and listen to what the missionary had to say. 

     I was preaching in Spanish, which was a challenge in itself.  When it was time for the invitation, I was ready to get out of there.  I knew that I had done a terrible job.  Probably no one understood me and we were all tired and disappointed.  However, right about the time I was ready to give up a little blond haired boy came forward crying saying he wanted to receive Jesus as his Savior.  That little boy was my son Jameson.  He did not even understand Spanish, but the Holy Spirit had so embraced his heart that he could not hold back what God wanted him to do.  We prayed and he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior that day. 

     God taught me a valuable lesson that day.   If I had skipped out on my attendance that day, I would have missed what God was doing in my son's life.  If we all would have this same expectation when we attend church, we would never want to miss.  I know what  you are saying "but God doesn't move like that."  Or "I have never seen God stir a heart like that."  And of course I would say, it might be the day you choose to miss that God wanted to move in someone's life, maybe your child's or even your own.

     I believe that God shows up every Sunday as we worship and serve Him.  Sometimes it is dramatic, other times it is less dramatic.  My friend Manny always prayed "God show up today."  Then he would add "God show off as well."  I look forward to seeing God show off every Sunday.  Do you? 

     Is church attendance important?  It is essential, because God longs to reveal Himself to His people as we corporately worship and honor Him.  It is my prayer and my desire that you never skip out on worship because it might just be you that God wants to reveal Himself to.  Think about it.  It will change your perspective.  I hope to see YOU in church and watch GOD show off!!